


Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

by celinamarniss



Series: Legacy [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, EU easter eggs, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Gen, My pseudonym is Mara's alias and now i've made it weird, mentions of various minor eu characters, smuggling for fun and profit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8411902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celinamarniss/pseuds/celinamarniss
Summary: Celina scoffed. "I'm not your employee, Karrde." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm an independent contractor." There was the hint of a wry smile at the corner of her mouth. "And a friend?" "Maybe." That was definitely a smile. She got that faraway look again. "I don't have many friends. Not anymore." Five memorable times Talon Karrde crossed paths with Mara Jade in the Legacy verse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic serves as a companion and epilogue to the fic "Legacy." This might not make any sense if you haven't read that first. (But if you read it on its own, let me know!)

ONE

 

The evening didn't quite go the way Talon Karrde had planned. 

A night out with his crew in one of the seedier bars that Beris had to offer had led to a violent encounter with a local swoop gang looking to start a brawl, and he and a few of his crew had been roughed up a bit more than he expected the one medic currently on board on the Wild Karrde to reasonably handle. That meant a visit to local med center to get head wounds stitched and cracked bones set before they headed back to the ship. Karrde himself had a sprained wrist that needed a brace. Luckily, no one was badly hurt. 

It was a little trickier to convince the regulation-loving citizens who worked at the med center to overlook their registration policies and accept off-world patients involved in an illegal altercation; it took a bit of patience and money, but the personal touch was always worth it. He had been settling up accounts when a young woman in obvious distress had burst into the reception area, demanding medical attention and looking as though she was about to give birth right there in the doorway. 

Karrde hadn't planned to spend the rest of the night playing the role of her baby's father, but he recognized an opportunity when he saw it.

Karrde had seen in a lot in his life, but he'd never been present at a birth before. There had been a lot less screaming than he'd been lead to believe. After the mysterious young woman had recovered from her panic, she had remained calm for the rest of the birth, drawing on some deep inner reserve that carried her through the whole messy process. Afterward, she'd fallen into an exhausted sleep, and he had her moved to a private room where he continued the charade of an anxious new father waiting by her bedside.

She looked very young as she slept. He examined her IDs, retrieved from the satchel she'd left in the speeder she’d obviously stolen to get to the med center. _Celina Marniss, Imperial Citizen, Native of Tattooine._ Not with that crisp Coruscanti accent, she wasn't. He guessed that she'd added a few years on to her listed age, too. She couldn't have been older than twenty. Still, the ID themselves were good fakes and checked out on a cursory scan. They might have fooled him if he didn't have the best slicers in the business on his payroll. She was clearly a fugitive; though running from Imperials or the Hutts or some other squalid conflict, he couldn't say. It was a safe bet she wouldn't tell him either; she wouldn't risk him turning her and her child over to whoever was pursuing her.

He'd had his slicer pull security holofiles from the surrounding area in order to track her route to the hospital. He watched her hotwire a speeder and then gracefully disable the owner in spite of her condition. She’d only struck the owner three times before he went down, proving she had the knowledge to incapacitate without drawing out the fight, which Karrde admired. In her desperation, her driving was reckless, but she clearly could handle a speeder with great skill. 

And then there was the incident in the medical center's receiving room. She'd pulled some sort of mind trick on the nurse, he was sure of it. He'd heard of such things but had never seen it done in person. He’d pay a good deal of money to make use of talents like that. He suspected she had other abilities he had yet to discover, and if she proved loyal, she’d make a fine asset to his organization.

Providing that she was interested in his offer. Just because she was running, didn't mean that she didn't have already somewhere to run _to._ Karrde just hoped he could convince her that joining his crew was a better alternative.

The young woman stirred at last, shifting drowsily in the bed before opening those remarkable green eyes. A wary expression crossed her face as she focused on him.

"Good morning," Karrde greeted her. This was going to be interesting.

 

\\\

 

TWO

 

Karrde took another sip of caf in an attempt to cover his irritation and checked his chrono again. She was late, _very_ late. Three cafs ordered late.

His comlink clicked again, a coded signal that meant she was delayed—still checking the perimeter. _Stars,_ that woman was paranoid. It made her an excellent operative, but he regretted that the very skills that made her valuable also ensured that she'd never come on board his organization in a more permanent position. He set down his cup; it was getting cold. 

 _Finally,_ she entered the cafe and made her way over to his table. She wore an outfit in the nondescript earth tones of a local, her bright hair covered by a scarf wound around her head. That other obstruction to her signing on, the boy, was nowhere to be seen. Karrde didn't know where she stashed the kid when she went on missions, and he really didn't care. Children had no place in their line of work.

"Karrde." She sat in the seat that had been waiting for her. 

"You're late."

"I had to make sure the area was secure." Celina looked uneasy. She'd lost her Coruscanti accent. "Something doesn't feel right."

"As much as I appreciate the effort, there _is_ something to be said for punctuality." He allowed his irritation to bleed into his tone. "Do you have what I paid for?"

She pulled a small datapad out of her jacket and slid it across the table. He unlocked the datapad and reviewed the files, his sour mood faded as he looked over her intel. Good, and better than he expected, frankly. It was the complete schematic to the new Imperial docking bays in the spaceport on Dytho. It was information that would come in handy when his crew wanted to pick up anything that might have "fallen off the back of a spaceship" and needed to know all the ins and outs of the spaceport in question. He had expected only partial blueprints for the spaceport in question; she had more than earned her paycheck.

"I have something else you might be interested in." She passed him a second datapad, watching intently as he glanced over the screen. "It holds the routes of all the Imperial patrols in the sector."

Karrde felt his jaw drop as he scanned the pad. If he knew where the patrols were, his ships could avoid them entirely. This sort of intel was invaluable.

"How did you get this?" 

Celina gave him a humorless smile. "Hacking imperial databases. My specialty." 

"How long is this good for?" 

Celina shrugged. "Palpatine's been even more paranoid since Endor, and he likes to change things up frequently, but some of the further flung commanders get lazy, and you can use that to your advantage. Moff Julyn is particularly lax." It wasn't the first time she'd offered insight into the Imperial chain of command, he noted privately.

He’d seen her face on a private Imperial bounty list, the sort of list only available to certain parties. Karrade had a copy, of course, though he hadn't gotten it through official channels. None of the alias listed had matched Celina's, but that wasn't surprising. The holo on file was a few years old. She was wearing an Imperial uniform without any insignia marking rank or affiliation, her hair pulled tightly back, not a single lock out of place. She looked young and very severe. It had taken him a few years to connect her to a rumor that the Alliance had also been on the lookout for a young woman about the same age as Celina, though the rumor had died quickly, as the Alliance didn’t offer bounties.

Karrde had a working theory. Given her skillset and desperate desire to avoid both Imperial _and_ Alliance attention, he figured her for a Rebel spy whose undercover mission had gone very, very bad. So wrong it had somehow alienated her from the Alliance as well. Perhaps it had to do with the child. An affair with an Imperial officer during the mission? She had said once that her son was named after his father, but naturally no search on the name "Ben Marniss" had ever given him any leads. The bounty the Imperials were offering ("wanted alive") was about the range you'd expect for a defected agent. Impressive enough to catch interest, but not in the same range as a hero of the Alliance. It was a mystery he enjoyed poking at every once and a while. He needed a hobby, anyway.

He watched her carefully as he made his next statement. "There's a rumor that the _Millennium Falcon_ was shot down at Sullust."

Her head shot up. _Gotcha,_ Karrde thought. Another point for Alliance ties.

"Are the rumors true?" she asked, her face tense.

"No, it was a different ship. I had my people look into it."

He watched relief wash over her, followed by a fierce glare. "That was a dirty trick."

He shrugged. "It got results. You could just tell me, you know."

"You know that's—" she broke off, going white as a sheet. "Ben," she whispered. "They've found him." She was up like a shot, bolting for the front exit. Karrde leapt after her, managing to grab her arm before she cleared the doors. She whipped around, her face set in a snarl.

"My speeder. Out back."

She nodded and followed him through the back exit. She slipped into the driver's side, taking the controls of his land speeder as he keyed in the activation sequence. She drove the speeder at a breakneck pace into a dilapidated corner of the industrial district, before pulling to an abrupt stop on an abandoned side street. There were several swoop bikes carrying the logo of the Tenana Syndicate parked in front of a shabby building. The Tenana Syndicate was relentless, ruthless, and expensive.

Celina was out of the speeder and heading straight for the building before Karrde caught up with her.

"You're just going in the front door?"

"Yes." She didn't turn to look at him, her attention fixed on the building. 

As Celina stood before the door in question it exploded inward as if a giant invisible fist had punched it in. Karrde jerked back, an arm flying up in an unnecessary reflexive gesture of defense. She walked through the shattered remains of the door without looking back, and Karrde followed her.

Half a dozen nasty looking thugs waited for them inside the building. Celina shot one before they got in too close, and ducked a blow from a large Gotal who rushed her. She threw a kick at his knee and an elbow back into a thug who tried to approach from behind, almost as though she could anticipate her opponent's moves.

Karrde hung back from the fight, hesitant to shoot while she was in the thick of the fray and more than willing to let her handle the hand to hand combat. It was her area of expertise, not his. "Find Ben," she shouted at him. "He's upstairs." He did shoot the Human thug who tried to pursue him up the fight of stairs.

On the second floor, a brawny Twi'lek held Ben in a tight grip under one arm, a nasty looking knife in his other hand. The thug had several scratches on his face which indicated that the kid had put up a fight, though he had stopped struggling by the time Karrde had arrived. At least the child wasn't panicking. _This has happened to him before,_ Karrde thought with a sinking feeling.

"Back up," the Twi'lek rasped. "Drop your weapon."

As Karrde weighed the option of dropping his weapon against risking the shot, Ben wormed a single hand free from his captor's grasp and flashed a hand signal that Karrde was surprised the child knew. Or then, again, considering Celina, maybe he wasn't surprised. Karrde didn't drop his blaster. The Twi'lek yelped in surprise as the knife was jerked from his grasp by an unseen force, and Karrde shot him in the head. As Twi'lek went down, Ben rolled clear of the falling body in a obviously practiced move. How many times had he been threatened like that?

Karrde helped the kid up and determined that he hadn't been injured in the scuffle, while noting that it had gone suspiciously quiet downstairs. He told Ben to keep back before he went to check the stairwell, only to find Celina already rushing up to find them. She wasn't moving as though she'd sustained any major injuries. Ben leapt into her arms and Celina held him close, whispering things that Karrde couldn’t quite make out.

Well. If Karrde thought about it, he might be alarmed at how quickly she had dispatched an entire crew of trained bounty hunters, but now was really not the time.

"Take him to the speeder," Celina said, passing Ben back to Karrde. "I'm right behind you."

The kid didn't object, and Karrde took him back downstairs, shifting his body to block the view of the small massacre the child's mother had left downstairs.

Celina joined them shortly after Karrde had Ben secure in the speeder. She'd grabbed a pair of rucksacks from her former hideout which she threw in the back of the speeder, leaving any other belongings behind. As he settled the child in the speeder, she pulled out a thermal detonator and returned to the building. Demolishing an entire building in order to cover her tracks seemed a little extreme, but Karrde wasn't about to argue that point with her.

"Is the building clear?" he asked when she returned. Better not add a few accidental deaths to their crimes. Her eyes unfocused slightly, and she nodded. Another mind trick, he assumed. She was always full of surprises.

She let him drive this time. She curled around her son, hunched low in the backseat to avoid being seen at street level. They felt the impact of the explosion a few blocks away, the speeder shuddering slightly. Karrde took a direct route to the hangar where his ship was docked.

He shut off the speeder. Without turning to look at her, he began: "This isn't the first time you've been caught by bounty hunters, is it?"

"No." 

"You've refused to join my organization where I can provide a cover and protection, which has exposed your son to kidnapping attempts." His voice held a calm he wasn't feeling, but he let an edge creep in. "Your _son._ "

"You don't know what I'm dealing with, Karrde. You have no idea."

"You're right, I _don't,"_  he said pointedly. He took a breath. There was no use getting angry at Celina for refusing his protection, she wouldn't be swayed. And he was angry; angry at her, angry at whomever had the resources to send the Tenana Syndicate _after a child._

"I can get you off planet before the Tenana Syndicate gets word that you've escaped and killed their team."

She was already beginning to protest, but he stopped her with a cold stare. "You're going to disappear again."

She nodded, her face set in a grim expression.

"Hutt space," he guessed. "But you won't tell me where. You'll need better IDs."

She gave a harsh laugh. "I can't afford your prices, Karrde."

"You can owe me this time. And if you continue to bring me Imperial intel like today, I'm sure we could work something out."

"Thank you."

He flinched away at the sincerity in her expression, turning toward his ship.

"We could use a lift to Bimmisaari," she said. 

"That's better," he said. 

He threw her rucksacks over his shoulder and headed toward his ship without looking back. She got out of the speeder, hoisted her son onto her hip, and followed him.

 

\\\

 

THREE

 

The safehouse was sparse: a small kitchen unit, a table and set of chairs, a bed, a line of hooks on the wall for jackets and blaster belts. It did have an impressive locking system on the door, which Karrde triple checked to make sure it was secure. Celina was prowling around the room, doing her own inspection. An unexpected curfew had locked down the area they'd been operating in, and they'd had to retreat to the safehouse until the Imperial patrols had finished sweeping the neighborhood.

Celina had disappeared for a year and a half before making contact again, and then she'd accepted three jobs within the space of six months. Karrde figured she was saving up for something, probably a ship. He'd seen her face on another Imperial list recently, this time under the alias Karrinna Jansih, a name he knew she'd already abandoned a year ago. (She was going by Arica now; he'd provided her current IDs.) The holo attached to the bounty was the old one, which indicated that they'd never gotten close enough to her capture her image. It was, however, the first bounty list that noted that she was traveling with a child. Karrde wondered who'd blown her cover, and if they still lived. He doubted it.

She didn't look like she'd been eating well. She'd dyed her hair black, and it was longer than he'd ever seen it before.

"Ben's not on planet, is he?"

"No." Even after all these years, she hesitated before continuing: "I left him at a children's center in Corvis Minor."

Ben, who had inherited the same mysterious talents she had; the same talents that had made the Jedi famous. The enthusiasm with which the Empire had eradicated the Jedi was probably another reason why Celina had been laying low all these years. How it tied into her mysterious past he hadn’t worked out yet.

They were going to be trapped in here for a while, so he set about searching the kitchenette. He found beans, some dried surro and pota, a random selection of seasoning packets, and a few odds and ends. There was an old bottle of some local liquor and of course, ration bars, which they _wouldn't_ be eating tonight. He began to fill a pot with water. Celina stopped her pacing to stare at him.

"It'll be a couple more hours until the patrol finishes covering this sector," he said. "We have time to eat."

She nodded, and resumed her restless circuit of the apartment. Karrde ignored her and continued preparing their meal. He was able to whip together something with the beans and surro (making a mental note to have someone restock the safehouse after they left). It wasn't his best effort, but Celina didn't seem to notice. She ate mechanically, her mind obviously elsewhere.

When she finished she leaned back and stretched her arms above her head, her eyes drifting shut for a second. Karrde watched the graceful movement out of the corner of his eye. She was very attractive—she'd always been very attractive—but Karrde didn't get involved with his subordinates.

"Did you hear about the battle at Ord Mantel?" He still passed on whatever news he had from the front lines of the war.

"No, I hadn't." He must have given away something in his voice, because she looked at him with an expression pinched with apprehension. He wasn't surprised that the news hadn't made it out to this particular corner of the galaxy, in spite of the Empire's tendency to gloat about their victories.

"Heavy losses on the Alliance side, especially in the new Corellian fleet. _The Hoku, The New Hope,_ and _Ryloth Freedom_ were lost. I'm sorry." It had been a bad year for the Alliance.

She shook her head, almost to herself, and said so softly he almost didn't hear it: "Vader still lives."

And the Emperor, who seemed to have an almost supernatural ability to organize troops and built superweapons. The civil war had been dragging on for decades and still showed no signs of resolving. 

He cleared the dishes, and then uncorked the bottle of liquor (cheap, Chandrillian, but not undrinkable) and poured them both a generous serving.

"Thank you," she said, offering him a smile. 

It wasn't just the Rebel defeats that were bothering her, she had looked troubled even before he'd told her. He wanted to say something comforting, but Celina wasn't the sort of women who'd accept false platitudes.

 _This is probably a mistake,_ he thought as he kissed her.

 

\- -

 

When Karrde woke several hours later, Celina was sitting up, arms crossed over bent knees, long dyed-dark hair falling down her back, staring into space. He let his eyes linger on the curve of her back, before traveling up to her face. Though she was clearly a million miles away, she'd lost a little of the haunted look she'd had before he'd taken her to bed. 

She began to speak, almost more to herself than to him.

"Someone I was close to..." she trailed off, stumbling over the words, "...he—he trained me—" She cut off again, was quiet for a moment. "I got word that he died. We didn't part on the best terms. I never lived up to his expectations."

"I find that hard to believe." 

"I promised him I’d be back one day to... I broke that promise."

"Sometimes that can't be helped." 

She nodded slowly. He sat up, the sheet sliding off his torso. He caught Celina looking.

"I haven't—not since..." She fell silent. He could fill in the blanks. 

Karrde ran a hand across his face. "I don't usually—not with anyone on my crew."

Celina scoffed. "I'm not your _employee,_ Karrde." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm an independent contractor." There was the hint of a wry smile at the corner of her mouth. 

"And a friend?"

"Maybe." That was definitely a smile. She got that faraway look again. "I don't have many friends. Not anymore."

And then, her moment of introspection was over.

She slid fluidly from the bed, collecting her clothes and dressing briskly.

"I'll see you again soon?" He wasn't talking about another job. 

She paused but didn't look up and meet his gaze. "I'd like that," she said softly.

"Next time we meet?" 

She nodded as she clipped on her belt, her mind clearly elsewhere again. "I'll take the job infiltrating the base on Corsin, but you're going to pay me double for the mission."

"The original rate plus fifty percent," he countered automatically.

"Fifty percent plus transportation costs."

"Deal."

He had barely pulled on his shirt as she was throwing her coat over a long sweater and turning toward the door.

"I'll go ahead and check the shipment to make sure they didn't find anything in the sweep," she said. She paused at the door and turned back. "Thank you," she whispered, kissing his cheek. Her gaze skittered away and she stepped out of his reach.

"I’ll be right behind you," he said as she left.

 

\\\

 

FOUR

 

It had been two months since Vespaxan. With the implosion of the Empire after Palpatine's death, there was the inevitable chaos that surrounded the fall of a regime, with the New Republic, as they were now calling themselves, moving fast to solidify their position as the new top power in the Galaxy. More and more planets were throwing off their Imperial overlords and flocking to join the cause, and it was rumored that they'd take Coruscant any day now.

On a personal level, Karrde was pleased that the Alliance was finally succeeding; he had worked with the Alliance a few times in the past, though it was a connection he had always taken pains to conceal. But that didn't mean he was planning on going legit under the fledgling government. The taxes alone!

When he'd received a message that the New Republic was interested in his services, he had debated whether it was worth it to aid the cause at this particular juncture. There was a chance that it would be wiser to wait and see where the cards fell. But in the end, he decided to go in person to review the deal. If it went well, he might even have a line on a few ships that the New Republic would be interested in.

" _Wild Karrde,_ your codes have been approved, please direct your course to Landing Dock A7." The Alliance officer's voice came over the _Wild Karrde's_ comm as they approached the base. Aves confirmed the flight path and the ship turned smoothly toward the docking bay. "Jedi Jade will meet you when you land." The comms officer signed off.

 _Jedi?_ Karrde raised an eyebrow. The Jedi had been extinct for thirty years.

Aves coughed. "I heard a rumor, uh..."

"Go on." Karrde eyed his Lieutenant, vaguely irritated that Aves hadn't shared his information earlier.

"Heard that it was a Jedi that did in Vader and the Emperor. I mean, it sounded stupid at the time; the Jedi don't even exist anymore, _I_ thought."

"It does sound improbable." Still, there was someone in the Alliance that fancied themselves a Jedi, and very few details released about the death of the Emperor. If he could find out more about what had happened at Vespaxan, that information alone would make it worth the trip. "I look forward to meeting this _Jedi_ Jade."

“Keep your eyes open for any surprises,” Karrde told his crew, though he didn’t expect any trouble from the Alliance. They landed without incident, and Karrde set the crew on tasks before heading to disembark and meet his new contact. As he stepped off the ship, he discovered a surprise he _hadn’t_ expected. A lone figure met him at the bottom of the ramp: a slim young woman with striking red hair. It was Celina.

So she had finally returned to the arms of the Alliance. Welcomed back with all her sins forgiven, he hoped. He hadn't heard from her in months, and while that wasn't unusual, he hadn't expected to see her again here. She was wearing a faded olive jumpsuit with Alliance markings that was slightly too big for her. If not for the lightsaber hanging from her belt, Karrde would have thought that comm officer had made some mistake. He'd witnessed her abilities on a few occasions, but calling herself a Jedi was another matter entirely.

 _"Jedi Jade,_ I presume?"

"Mara Jade," she told him her name for the very first time. "You can call me Mara."

"You're looking well, Mara." She'd lost that desperate, slightly starved look of the fugitive woman he had known. She looked happy. "I'm glad to see the Alliance has taken you back, although I admit I had you pegged as a spy, not a Jedi."

"I did do some intelligence work for the Alliance," she admitted. "After Yavin." 

"Did you fall in love with an Imperial officer during an undercover mission and run off when you found yourself pregnant with his child?"

"So that was your theory." She was amused. "How romantic, Karrde. But not even close. I was an Imperial agent, actually; I defected after Alderaan."

"That still doesn't explain how you fell out with the Alliance."

"It's complicated," Mara said. Her expression darkened. "Ben's father was killed, and I didn't want to raise my son in the middle of the war with a price on my head." It was clearly an incredibly abbreviated version of the story, but it was more than Karrde had learned in the seven years he'd known her.

"How is Ben?"

She smiled. "He's doing well. His father's family is here, and they're enjoying getting to know him." Her smile twisted into something more ironic. "When they're not busy running the Alliance, that is." 

She didn't name names, but it would be easy to look into. If she was setting herself up as the New Republic's Jedi, then her identity would be public knowledge now.

"You know, I've never spoken with an actual Jedi before." 

"And you have a million questions." Her expression said: _you and everyone else._

"A few, yes. As a matter of fact, there's a planet called Myrkr that has some interesting lifeforms that are said to affect the Force in usual ways."

"I know.” She had an odd expression on her face he couldn’t decipher. “I've been."

"What?" How was _that_ possible? Karrde was certain that if she'd set foot on his planet, he would have known about it. 

"I was sent there to kill you." Karrde felt his jaw drop. Mara looked insufferably calm about the revelation. "Before I joined the Alliance I wasn't just any Imperial agent, I was an assassin. I was ordered to take you out, but I got... sidetracked. That was partially the fault of those damned ysalamiri."

 _That_ put an interesting spin on their relationship. It would probably take him another ten years to get the whole story out of her.

"So they do inhibit Force users." 

"Very effectively." That was an interesting bit of intel he didn't expect to have confirmed, though he didn't doubt her ability to take on anyone in the galaxy even _without_ her Jedi powers.

"Well, I'm glad you changed your mind about murdering me."

She grinned. "Me too."

Their conversation was interrupted by an indignant _blat._ It was then he noticed the astromech droid that hovered behind Mara. She placed a hand on the droid's dome, looking down at it fondly. "Artoo was Luke's—Ben's father's—droid. He seems to have shifted his allegiance to me now." Droids could be peculiar that way; Karrde preferred relying on people. Artoo burbled happily at Mara. "Artoo's just reminding me that we're expected at the conference table."

"Can you enlighten me on the terms of this mysterious deal the Alliance intends to offer me? It sounded like a shipping contract."

"Yes, more or less. The New Republic needs someone to get supplies and information through the Imperial blockades and unclaimed sectors." It made sense. For the time being, small-time warlords and pirates still made travel in certain sectors dangerous. After over a decade of open warfare, the New Republic didn't have the resources it needed it protect every convoy and so it wanted pirates they could trust. "I recommended your organization and we discussed what sort of payment you required." She named a figure. Karrde hid his surprise; it was higher than he would have expected the Alliance to offer. "I warned them that you wouldn't accept anything less."

 _Ah._ This was Mara Jade, thanking him. Thanking him _very_ generously.

"That sounds very reasonable. I'm sure that the New Republic and I can come to some sort of agreement."

They crossed the flight deck, the droid trailing behind them. Mara led them through the base to a wing that held a series of conference rooms. The group of Alliance officials they were meeting for the negotiations had already started to gather. He spotted the Rebel Alliance's quartermaster, someone who looked like an Intelligence Officer, and, surprisingly, a pregnant Organa-Solo with her husband hovering nearby. Before they came into earshot, Karrde stopped and turned to Mara.

"While I have the chance, I have to ask: are the rumors true?"

"Yes." Mara Jade, the woman who took down the Emperor, gazed at him levelly. "But I would ask that they remain rumors."

"Is New Republic reinstating the Jedi order?" He eyed the archaic weapon at her hip.

Mara looked uncomfortable. "They've asked me to, yes."

"I think you'd do a remarkable job, Mara."

She gave him one of her wry smiles. "That remains to be seen. But thank you."

Throughout the meetings that followed, Karrde continued to keep an eye on Mara. She had a new purpose and confidence he'd never seen before. She had a _home,_ something that he could never give her. Not that he hadn't tried, over and over again, but she'd always slipped away. He regretted that. _Celina_ had been a fiction, and he'd only ever caught glimpses of the woman she really was underneath that illusion.

He could tell that _Mara Jade_ would be a force to be reckoned with.

 

\\\

 

FIVE

 

Karrde leaned over the railing of the mezzanine level of the Sil-Ut Promenade, idly watching the action below. The mezzanine balcony overlooked a track for modified, short distance podracing, a swoop bike obstacle course, and what looked like a zoo off in the distance. Behind him, the promenade boasted a busy marketplace filled with vendors of all types, diners and bars, and several clubs that wouldn't attract their customers for a few more hours. A bustling, anonymous meeting place for a smuggler and the founder of the fledgling Jedi order.

In the years since the fall of the Empire, Mara had slowly been gaining acolytes and rebuilding the Jedi Order. She had set up a small Jedi center on Coruscant, funded by Organa and run by that fighter pilot Mirax Terrrik had married. They operated independently of the NR government, while still remaining within its legal jurisdiction. She was a busy woman these days, and Karrde was surprised (and pleased) when she sent a message asking to meet him. Being the New Republic's man for shady intel and dubious handoffs had been a profitable venture, but he would have come at Mara's request regardless of his situation with the New Republic, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

She was right on time, making her way gracefully across the long promenade. She was wearing a dark green outfit suggestive of the Jedi uniform he'd seen in old holos without completely mimicking the traditional garments. Karrde didn't miss the heavy silver lightsaber she wore at her hip. Beside her was a tiny alien figure, impeccably dressed in a light blue version of the outfit, which complimented the alien's grey coloring.

"Mara." It still delighted him to say her given name out loud after years of mystery. "A pleasure to see you as always."

"Hello, Karrde."

"And this is...?"

"This is my apprentice." She put a hand on the alien's tiny shoulder.

"I am Meena clan Skywalker." She squeaked. "Master Mara is my teacher and the maitrakh of my clan."

"Collecting war orphans, Mara?"

"Only Force-sensitive ones." She gave the girl an encouraging smile. Karrde thought the girl smiled back, but it was hard to tell with all those teeth.

"Where's Ben?"

"Wandered off to look at the podracers. He's under the impression that he can fly one."

Karrde made a skeptical noise. "Humans can't handle the steering."

"Jedi can." Mara gave Meena a warning look. "But that doesn't mean we _should."_

"Yes, Maitrakh."

"You can call me Mara in front of Karrde," Mara said gently. "He's a friend."

There was a howl of engines as a podracer roared by the balcony, a siren wailing to indicate that a vehicle was out of bounds. Karrde caught a glimpse of red hair flashing by as the driver executed a triple roll.

Meena made a disapproving noise. "My clan cousin can be very impetuous."

A little half-smile crossed Mara's face. "I'd die for him, but there are times when I fantasize about trading him for a package of risshi cakes."

Meena gave a long-suffering sigh.

 _"Ben Skywalker,"_ Mara snapped, her Force-amplified voice projecting across the distance. "Get down here." The podracer made an impressive hairpin turn and began to loop down toward the lower levels below the balcony. "He comes from a terrible gene pool. Reckless, the lot of them."

"Skywalker... there was a Jedi by that name, wasn't there?"

Mara had never officially stated that the legendary Jedi Anakin Skywalker was Ben's grandfather, but Karrde was relatively sure that he was. She'd never told him the whole story and he couldn't help himself. 

"Hero of the Clone Wars; his grandfather, in fact. Awful man." As if she knew a Jedi who died before she was even born. _Could_ Jedi speak to the dead? He'd have to look into that. He needed a hobby. 

It didn't take long for Ben to come racing up a staircase leading up from the lower levels and skid to a stop in front of them. He wasn't wearing a version of the Jedi attire like his mother; instead he wore a light patterned shirt over rather oversize black pants with bright orange boots. Is that what young people were wearing these days? Horrifying.

"That was astral, Mom! You _need_ to try it."

Mara snorted. "Not on your life. And I thought I told you not to get in one of those deathtraps."

"Yeah, but did you see how fast I went?" 

"Breaking half a dozen regulations and probably incurring a fine. That's the last time."

"Aww, but Mom—"

"Not right now, Ben," Mara said sharply. "Meena, go take your cousin over to that bakki booth and buy him a treat."

"Yes, Master Mara," Meena said primly. Ben rolled his eyes but followed his diminutive adopted cousin over to booth, where he had to lift her up so that she could speak to the vendor. 

"He's going to be so much trouble in a couple of years." Mara watched her two young charges as they bought their treats and wandered off to another section of the mezzanine to watch the podrace practice.

"Jedi instinct or motherly intuition?"

Mara shook her head. "He's already run away a couple of times. I had to send his uncle out after him. I can't imagine what he'll do when he's a teenager."

Karrde didn't want to imagine the sort of trouble a Force-wielding teenager could get into either. "What did you want to tell me without the children overhearing?"

"I have an offer for you." Mara pulled out a small datapad from a pocket. She didn't activate it, just fidgeted with the edges as she gave him her pitch. "Meena comes from the world of Honoghr. It isn't listed on any official maps, since Vader had a vested interest in keeping it secret and its inhabitants under the Empire's heel. Unsurprisingly, he orchestrated a number of horrible things to control Honoghr's inhabitants. About eight years ago, a very quiet civil war broke out on Honoghr over whether to break ties with the Empire or not. There was a lot of collateral damage, including Meena's clan. The clans who choose to leave the Empire have decided to flee Honoghr. I've been helping with the relief and relocation efforts. This is what the Jedi are for, to help out beings that need us." Mara tucked a flyaway lock of hair behind her ear. "And it's possible I may have provided some of the intel that sparked the conflict." She looked a little guilty at that. "There's hasn't been much support from the New Republic, for a variety of reasons. I'd like to recruit your organization."

"As much as I admire what you're trying to do with the Jedi Order, my people don't work for free."

"Perish the thought, Karrde." Mara rolled her eyes, looking remarkably like her son for an instant. "I'll reimburse the initial missions, but I think you'll find that your exclusive connection to the Noghri will be a lucrative one."

"How so?"

"Noghri commandos are some of the best trackers and hand to hand combat specialists in the galaxy. They're one of the few beings in the galaxy that have gotten the jump on me."

Karrde raised his eyebrows. High praise indeed. "It's possible I could find some use for highly trained combat specialists."

"I thought you might."

They discussed logistics as Mara kept one eye on the younglings as they traipsed around the promenade. She had a contract laid out on her datapad for him to review and took him through the major points. She was definitely undercutting his usual fee, but he was willing to let that slide if the venture proved profitable in the ways she'd promised.

Mara would be supervising the initial missions, at least until all necessary connections had been established.

"I suppose we'll be seeing a lot of each other soon," he said.

"I suppose so." She offered him a smile.

"Oh, and I have something for you." He retrieved the datachip out of a pocket and held it out.

"What do I owe you?"

"Consider it a gift. Between old friends." And former lovers, he didn't say.

She inserted the chip into her datapad and Karrde had the pleasure of watching her face light up as she scanned the file. It was Ben's birth record, sliced from the med center's archive on Beris. Karrde was particularly fond of the section of the file listing the child's parents, sealed with their equally fraudulent signatures. Several holos of the infant taken for reference purposes were attached as well. 

Mara was silent as the images slid across the screen. She let one of Ben's tiny face hover on the screen, her finger tracing the outline of the image. 

"Thank you," She said quietly. "I don't have any holos of him as a baby. There just isn't anything from when he was little."

"Mom, are you okay?" Her son and the small alien had both craned their heads around in Mara's direction, identical concerned expressions on their faces.

"I'm fine. Quit eavesdropping on my mental state, Ben."

The young Jedi trooped back over nonetheless, hovering around Mara with barely concealed concern. Mara tucked the datepad back into her pocket and looked over her children with an exasperated fondness. "Alright, you two, time to get back to the ship."

"Aww, Mom!" Ben pouted. "We'll miss the swoop races. You promised!"

"Did I?"

"You did say so." Meena's teeth clicked together and she looked shocked at her own impudence.

"Very well then, we can catch a race or two before we head back. As long as you both behave yourselves."

Ben tried to dodge as she tousled his red hair. "Mom!"

"Fancy a day at the races, Karrde?" Mara said.

He was a busy man; he couldn't afford to waste a day on cheap entertainment.

"Why not?" He found himself saying. He offered her his arm and she took it with an impish smile.

"Come on, Meena!" Ben tore off toward the swoop racing stadium. Meena looked to Mara for permission before scurrying after him.

"A handful, the two of them," Mara muttered.

"I'm sure you'll manage beautifully, Mara."


End file.
